Research network facilitates innovative new service for network operators

Sunnyvale, Calif., – Sept. 9, 2014 – Infinera (NASDAQ:INFN, news, filings), provider of Intelligent Transport Networks™, and DANTE (Delivery of Advanced Network Technology to Europe) announced the successful demonstration of a single card terabit super-channel on an active segment of GÉANT’s production network between Budapest, Hungary and Bratislava, Slovak Republic.

The demonstration showed for the first time how a single photonic integrated circuit (PIC) can enable more than a terabit of super-channel coherent capacity from a single line card with a single fiber connector. This enables faster capacity deployment and lowers operational costs by dramatically reducing the fiber count when contrasted with alternate solutions.

One of the challenges service providers face is the amount of time it takes to deploy capacity with multiple cards and the operational burden of managing hundreds and thousands of fiber connections.

“This is not only a single line card super-channel – it is also a single chip super-channel,” said Geoff Bennett, Director of Solutions and Technology at Infinera. “Large scale PIC technology is fundamental to making terabit scale super-channels a practical reality. The small footprint of the terabit scale PIC means we will be able to more than double the capacity of our line cards and our DTN-X chassis in the same rack space; and for all of the DTN-X customers around the world that means they can more easily scale to meet the ever-growing demand from the Internet.”

“The fact that a full range of FlexCoherent modulations was shown in this trial, including higher spectral efficiency modulations, is a reminder of Infinera’s technology leadership in coherent transmission,” added Bennett.

“This is a great example of how the GÉANT network facilitates the innovation of new networking technologies, helping to shape the Internet of today and tomorrow,” said Michael Enrico, CTO of DANTE. “This prototype service from Infinera will help us to continue to support the ever growing needs of our NREN (National Research and Education Network) partners and the research and education communities we all serve.”

FlexCoherent - Simplifying operational processes

Featuring FlexCoherent, a dedicated Infinera technology for next-generation optical transmission systems, the demonstration showed that multiple FlexCoherent modulation formats could be software-selected using a single line card, unlike competing solutions which often require different line cards for different modulation formats. In particular, this trial showcased a number of new modulation technologies including PM-3QAM, PM-8QAM and PM-16QAM. This choice allows an operator to precisely optimize capacity and reach on the fiber, for example selecting 8QAM which increases fiber capacity by 1.5 times over QPSK while providing 3 times the reach versus 16QAM.

FlexCoherent is designed to enable service providers to optimize network performance across a range of fiber environments using a number of software-programmable advanced modulation formats.

Future-proofing

The demonstration also illustrated how the single card could plug into the existing line card slot of the Infinera DTN-X packet optical networking platform. Customers who have deployed the DTN-X will be able to upgrade service to 1.2 Tb/s per slot in the future with a total of 12 Tb/s of non-blocking switching capacity in a single rack. This design is intended to provide forward-scale to support up to twelve 100 GbE interfaces or three of the emerging 400 GbE per 1.2Tb/s slot in the future, and the DTN-X will be able to support up to ten of these slots per chassis. In addition to the 12 Tb/s in a single bay, the DTN-X platform is designed to scale up to 240 Tb/s of non-blocking capacity managed as a single large switch.

Scaling capacity

Infinera was the first to deliver single-card 500 gigabit per second (500G) super-channels into production in 2012, and is still the only vendor shipping 500G in a single card. This trial shows the next logical step to more than doubling the capacity that can be deployed in a single operation.

Contacts:

Infinera Media:

Anna Vue, Tel. +1 (916) 595-8157, avue@infinera.com

Infinera Investors:

Bob Jones, Tel. +1 (408) 543-8140, bjones@infinera.com

About Infinera

Infinera provides Intelligent Transport Networks to help carriers exploit the increasing demand for cloud-based services and data center connectivity as they advance into the Terabit Era. Infinera is unique in its use of breakthrough semiconductor technology to deliver large scale Photonic Integrated Circuits (PICs) and the application of PICs to vertically integrated optical networking solutions that deliver the industry’s only commercially available 500 Gb/s FlexCoherent super-channels. Infinera Intelligent Transport Network solutions include the DTN-X, DTN and ATN platforms. Find more at www.infinera.com.

About DANTE

DANTE (Delivery of Advanced Network Technology to Europe) is a non-profit organisation established in 1993 that plans, builds and operates large scale, advanced networks for research and education. On behalf of Europe’s National Research and Education Networks (NRENs), DANTE has built and operates GÉANT, a flagship e-Infrastructure key to achieving the European Research Area. For more information, visit www.dante.net.

This press release contains forward-looking statements including, among other things, statements relating to the features and benefits of Infinera products and technology including: that large scale PIC technology is fundamental to making terabit scale super-channels a practical reality; that the demonstration showed for the first time how a single PIC can enable more than a terabit of super-channel of coherent capacity from a single line card with a single fiber connector; that small footprint of the terabit scale PIC means that we will be able to more than double the capacity of our line cards and our DTN-X chassis in the same rack space; that DTN-X customers can more easily scale to meet the ever-growing demand from the internet; that Infinera has a leading technology in coherent transmission; that this design is intended to provides forward-scale to support up to twelve 100 GbE interfaces or three of the emerging 400 GbE per 1.2Tb/s slot in the future, and the DTN-X will be able to support up to ten of these slots per chassis; that the DTN-X platform is designed to scale up to 240 Tb/s of non-blocking capacity managed as a single large switch; and that This trial shows the next logical step to more than doubling the capacity that can be deployed in a single operation. These statements are not guarantees of results and should not be considered as an indication of future activity or future performance. Actual results may vary materially from these expectations as a result of various risks and uncertainties. Information about these risks and uncertainties, and other risks and uncertainties that affect Infinera’s business, is contained in the risk factors section and other sections of Infinera’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 28, 2014 as filed with the SEC on August 1, 2014, as well subsequent reports filed with or furnished to the SEC. These reports are available on Infinera’s website at www.infinera.com and the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. Infinera assumes no obligation to, and does not currently intend to, update any such forward-looking statements.